Strawberry muffins

  • 1-cup all-purpose flour
  • 1-cup whole-wheat flour
  • 1/2-cup sugar
  • 11/2 teaspoons baking soda
  • 2 eggs
  • 1-cup low fat plain yogurt
  • 1/4-cup butter, melted
  • 1-teaspoon vanilla
  • 1 cup chopped strawberries, fresh or frozen

Preheat oven to 375F. In a bowl, mix together flour, sugar, and baking soda. In another bowl, mix eggs, yogurt, and vanilla. Toss strawberries into the flour mixture. Then pour yogurt mixture into flour mixture and stir. Spoon the batter into a greased muffin pan. Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until tops are golden brown. Makes 12 muffins.

Calories: 150
Fat 5g
Carbohydratess 24g
Protein 4g
Fiber 2g

We're Swimming In Gas

I'm always suspicious of alarmism or overly emotional pleas. I think that is why I appreciate the site, CatskillMountainKeeper.org, for keeping its cool about a hot topic. I've followed the story loosely for a couple of years, and now its coming to a head. I should tell you.

Parts of New York, Pennsylvania (the first oil state), Ohio, and West Virginia have a geological zone called the Marcellus Shale region. Deep down in this zone is natural gas. As you know, carbon fuel prices went through the roof. This enabled companies, like Halliburton, to invest in developing new extraction technologies. One of those is hydraulic fracturing also known as fracture stimulation or "fracking". The process is simple. Drill a well. Add a lot of water, sand, and a cocktail of chemicals into the plumbing under extremely high pressure. This will fracture the shale deep beneath the ground, releasing the gas and a few other impurities. The gas is shipped to a facility to refine it, then its piped to electrical plants and to us, for use in our stoves.

Read this for a brief overview of NYC water supply system
Read this for an overview of the Marcellus Shale in PA and NY.
Read this for the Catskill Mountainkeeper overview of gas development in NY.
Read this for all kinds of issues via Propublica.
Read a blog all about it from PA.

Energy companies have already targeted Pennsylvania and are now eyeing New York. Much of the shale they are looking to drill is in the watershed of NYC. If my opinion mattered more than a hill o beans, I'd say just don't do it. But we got lots of rural land owners looking at energy salesmen waving dollars in their faces. In the upstate economy, that carries some good weight. State lands are open for drilling, but as far as I know, surface drilling on state park lands is a no-no, although this process uses horizontal drilling technology. There's lots to think about here, but ultimately we're talking about trading NYC's water purity for natural gas. Are we that desperate?

The current NYC administration is against the drilling. They've proposed 1 mile buffer zones around our drinking water supply. But this is unfair to all those who live and drink outside those zones. If it's not good for NYC, it's not good for all of NY.

Oil and gas prospecting wastes are essentially exempt from U.S. national environmental laws. Read the EPA pamphlet.

A Statement from Halliburton on your right to safe drinking water:
The U.S. Congress has recognized that fracture stimulation has been regulated for decades by the states and is essential for future development of America's energy supplies. When passing the federal Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA) in 1974, and then amending it in 1980, Congress created a program to monitor disposal of wastes injected underground. Congress made clear it never intended to regulate well stimulation activities under the SDWA (my italics). Congress reaffirmed this position in 2005 when it clarified that fracturing stimulation is exempted from the SDWA, except where diesel is used in the fracturing fluids.
That same year (2005), Halliburton was the first to introduce an industry-leading advancement – continuing to improve a technology it first commercialized in 1949 – by introducing diesel-free liquid gel concentrates into its suite of well stimulations fluid systems (what a coincidence!) and helping operators move to higher levels of environmental performance.
All I can say is WTF?

The latest news I have is this:
The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation extends environmental impact study, further delaying of natural gas drilling in New York.



image courtesy of splashdownpa


Diary Of A Cataclysm

Have you noticed the spate of end-of-the-world scenario TV movies in the last two months. Asteroids on NBC and ABC, Earth 2100 climate change cartoon on ABC. Then there's that movie (2012?) I've only seen the trailer for where the monk is running to ring the bell for the tidal wave is coming. Did you know there are people who believe the Earth will be hit by a planet in 2012? Its called Nibiru, the planet that is going to hit the Earth. Chiliastic beliefs at their best! How I do love living at the turn of a millennium. Sometimes I wonder, just wondering now, if all our environmental fears are a secular version of this chiliasm.

So, after looking at that funky stuff, enjoy so much this trailer mashup for that movie, 2012. Love the music!



When I was in my last year of undergraduate school I took it upon myself to read the dry biologist and scribe Barry Commoner's Making Peace With the Planet (review). In it, in essence, he describes a world in which all economic activity and warfare expenditure must cease. These resources must then be folded into the environmental problems we are facing. It was 1991.

I stumbled across this article by Derrick Jensen in Orion Magazine. Its called Forget Shorter Showers. Read it, as it is brief, then move on to the 250 comments, which are just as, or more, enlightening on a population torn asunder by humanity's pathological drift toward agriculture and technology.

Here are the things I've given up this year, because they mostly save me money -not sure they save the earth.

  • Pump soap -I'm back to bars, pricier ones seem to last months at my bathroom sink.
  • The window air conditioner -its been cool enough.
  • Not composting -so now I do it, hard to believe.
  • Urge to buy used clunker-car -I rent one when I need one.
  • Buy beautiful, flat TV -yeah the old one's big and not so well resolved, but who cares.
  • Takeout for dinner at work -yup, bringing in the dinner has not only saved me $, lost 15 lbs. in 9 months.
  • Bottled water -I can't believe how much I drank! I lobbied for a water fountain at work.

I already vegetable garden, which I know was saving the world for at least 6 months this year. So, you know I couldn't count that one. We did the compact fluorescent thing last year. Um, what else? Running out of things here. MMMM, uuuhhh. So read that article if your having trouble giving stuff up because maybe you're not so sure there's anything left to give up. Maybe there's something else you can do. Besides, who wants to be the only person on the block who can't refrigerate their leftovers from the block party because they gave up the fridge to save the Earth?



I Dream of Greenie


Its morning in Prospect Park


Green living (turtles from first photo)


Green planet, maybe Jupiter.


Green apple, green duckweed, green algal slime.


Green monster (it smells as bad as it looks)


Green poke


Green bridge, structurally sound-not sound, blocked-not blocked.


Green leaves of aster, looking fine compared to mine.


Green traffic circle, mysteriously planted, a woman I hear.


Green June Beetle, been spotted on sidewalks lately.


Is, Was, and To Be





I went to the corner nursery (really, its pretty lucky) to get some bamboo stakes for the greenbeans. Could I stop myself from looking around the perennials? I don't need to answer that. I saw giant Rudbeckias and Echinaceas, thinking of the coneflower that had its flower stalks knocked off by a baseball bat a month ago. But I did not buy!


Then I saw the Gaura. Gotta get the Gaura. While I prefered the pinks of the 'Siskyou,' I much prefered the upright habit of the white, 'name already forgotten.' I told the friendly clerk of my dilemma. I walked out with two for one. Sshh. Its quiet-time for selling perennials. But then I got two free lilies just for being there a month ago. So, I'm always going there first and how else can I ensure that my nursery on the corner stays in business? I can't possibly be their best customer, I have no room left to plant. I pulled a never-bloomed siberian iris to make room for the white gaura, and pruned back the dwarf spirea and lavendar, pulled some field yarrow for the pink gaura (still not satisfied with that spot).


The allium sphaerocephalon, past bloom, drying. In my mind, one of the longest, attractive, interesting flowers in my garden, even after bloom.


The Lilium to be.

The Upside Down World of Gardening


I am not a gardening expert, but I wear gardening on my sleeve -sometimes literally. Amongst my less experienced friends and neighbors, I'm called the expert. I enjoy getting the gardening questions, like to be helpful. To me, gardening is a universe that we can all choose to travel in, with different choices, decisions, and results. But it was hard for me last year, when I heard so many youngish city folk talking-up the upside-down tomatoes. I understood that it could work, I understood that tomatoes are vines, but I didn't understand the excitement! I had to admit to not knowing about it, I had to stay quiet.


I wonder if its no surprise that I've heard little of hanging tomato gardens this summer? I can understand a city gardener with limited space wanting to get their tomatoes off the ground. But when I saw this one on Sunday, on my block, in a nice front yard garden, I thought -oh my, there's one of those upside down things. And, while the hanging tomato plants were maybe 12-inches long, they had one or two tomatoes on each. Its a bad photo, but if you click on it, look closely and you'll probably see how small the plants are. This is in the yard of a knowledgeable gardener, so I cannot believe it has something to do with nutrients or soil or any ordinary gardening issue. It appears all contraption, no plant.

Trey, at Thegoldengecko.com, thinks that TopsyTurvy is iconic of the current gardening excitement. Maybe business taking advantage of new gardeners too? Click the TopsyTurvy link for a funny video of two older people struggling to grow their tomatoes until they get their topsy turvy on. Does any of the claim below make any sense?

The Upside Down Tomato Planter
Topsy Turvy® tomato planter works in a simple yet ingenious way. As the sun warms the plant like a greenhouse, the root system explodes and thrives (or burns) inside the planter. Because Topsy Turvy® tomato planter is upside down, water and nutrients pour (WHAT?!) directly from the root to the fruit, giving you up to 30 pounds (because of pouring water/nutrients?) of deliciously ripe tomatoes per plant!

Two Garden Problems

My front yard garden has a combination of two problems this year.


One is that neighborhood kids often toss their football or baseball into the plants. If that doesn't break stems, the whacking around with a bat in the dark does. I planted a new aster last autumn, bottom center, that has only one stem left. The fern also took a beating. Its hard to see the damage in the photo below, but same problem. Football lands on delicate Boltonia stems and breaks or bends them. Fortunately Boltonia, and asters in general, are resilient to this type of damage. I straighten them out by running twine horizontally and the plant rests on the twine.



Problem two has been the general health of all the asters this year. They are blighted and fungal. All the asters including the pink-purple, fall-flowering types and the yellow-flowered goldenrod and maximilian sunflower have been affected, although this one below is the worst. I don't remember the variety, but the leaves are usually a bigger, healthier blue-green.


The asters are tough, they can survive this unhealthy year. But they don't look so good in the garden. The main reason may have been all the rain of June. Yet part of the reason, really only part, is that my plants are a bit crowded. Another reason is the stress of the heat reflected off the apartment house and sidewalk. Its tough in that 24-inch slice of earth!




Aster 'Monch' has begun to bloom. Its a much smaller plant this year, with speckled, ratty leaves. I wouldn't do without it, though.

A Railroad Runs Through It


Or My Forest Park Hike

I've been planning on exploring Forest Park for some time and finally I had the chance to do it. It was a warm day, yesterday, so the idea of walking through a shady forest enticed. I drove to Park Lane South, where there was ample street-side parking, then stepped out and felt a cooling breeze emanating from the woods. Ahhh.


click on it for full size
After crossing the boundary, the first thing I like to get is a map -where am I going? Fortunately, there was a park map on the park drive. I took a photo of it, as I am prone to do when I do not have a printed map, and used my camera screen to view it. On this day, it really helped.


The beginning of the trail. At this point, I had no idea how confusing the trail system would be. All was well, the trail was soft underfoot. I wore open-toed shoes (beware, missed roots had me tripping over myself on some trail parts).


As the title suggests, the LIRR actively runs through Forest Park. To boot, so does Jackie Robinson Parkway, Myrtle Ave, and Metropolitan Ave. I was never able to get fully away from the woosh of vehicles.


Not long into what I believed to be the blue trail, the fencing to isolate the train tracks is completely blown out. On the left -looking north, on the right -looking south. I found myself at this location on the blue and yellow trails.


I also found this fresh campfire site. Makes you think about those who may live in or near the park.


So I am walking along on what I think is the blue trail and suddenly I've merged with the bridle trail. I wanted to avoid this, but I could see no way to stay off as the blue trail is gone as far as I could tell. The bridle trail is good for walking, but beware - I ran into many riders galloping their horses.


Its at this point that I am beginning to learn something about Forest Park. It has obvious, distinct spur trails that the map doesn't show. The trails are well worn and I guarantee will confuse. This intersection above was easy to navigate, but many were not. I passed tens of intersections that were not mapped on the orange, blue, or yellow trail. But by far, the blue trail had the most. So, I would say that Forest Park is an excellent place to come and discover your trail map reading skills, learn how to use your compass, or hone your woods navigation skills. No chance of really getting lost since you are bounded by the city, but ample opportunity for confusion and decision making.


The park was not in good shape. Lots of downed trees, bare areas, weedy zones. In fact, it reminded me so much of where I grew up, I felt psychologically transported 40 miles east to the hummocky oak landscape of my youth. I grew up on the eastern side of the Harbor Hill terminal moraine which extends all the way through Jersey. Forest Park sits squarely on one of its high points.


Part of the dilapidated walking path, which may be the orange trail in between Park Lane South and one of the park drives. Something about these lamps, duct-taped up and leaning into the trees, that says uncared for.


The blue and yellow trail were mostly clear of poison ivy, but the Orange trail had it in many spots, like this large patch.

All in all, I was underwhelmed by my Forest Park experience. I hiked all the trails, barring the orange along the Jackie Robinson Parkway, in about two hours.

I do wish that people you pass on the trail would show the courtesy of acknowledgement. Out on wilderness trails, if you pass someone, general etiquette is to say hello. Here in the city I know we have different attitudes about acknowledging those in close proximity. With that in mind, I argue that it is more valuable to acknowledge when hiking in highly populated areas. Its just creepy to pass someone on a trail that only warily eyeballs you or worse, doesn't even look. Passing lone men out in the woods, especially in a place with so many desire paths, can put a person at dis ease that could be well assuaged by a hello, a smile, or even a simple nod. I will manage one of those three if I pass you on a woods trail in the NYC area. Hope you do the same.

Despite my complaints, I did make some discoveries...


I've been seeing this everywhere I go recently and Forest Park had a lot. Obviously a berry, like rasp or black. But neither of those...


It's notable for its bright orange berry (before it goes red I think) and its hairy/thorny sepals.


I spotted a couple of these, but cannot ID them. Five petaled, St. Johnswort-like yellow flowers; trifoliate leaves, astilbe-like; maybe 2 feet tall in the woods. Anybody?


I did find a few patches of fern on the yellow and blue trail.


On the blue trail, just passed 'The Gully,' this dangerous looking plant was trailside. It had spines on its stem and spines at the axil of each set of leaves. They were sharp. The leaves are pinnately compound. The stems were green, the whole plant green. It looked like a weed to me, but hard to say. It grew in a patch that looked as if it may become large shrubs or small trees some time in the future. My only guess is Aralia spp., but I didn't see any flowers or berries. I'm not sure Aralia has those axil spines. Anyone???


In two locations I spotted garden iris.


Tulip trees were present, especially on the yellow trail.


This fungus I found on the orange path, near the park drive. Anybody know this one?


On the yellow trail, not far from the train tracks, this big black beetle crossed my path. I couldn't take a good photo, she was moving fast. I take it for a she, because it seemed to be depositing eggs in the soil every few inches.


This was the prize, made the whole trip worth it. Indian Pipe. I've never seen it on Long Island before, although it most certainly grows here.

Map It.


Farmers' Bounty



I walk through the heavily edited landscape of Ditmas Park, Flatbush, Midwood -whatever we're calling it these days to get to the Cortelyou Famers' Market on Sundays. They have the best farm produce prices in Brooklyn. Less selection, but the market is growing, slowly. There is a fish guy, the turkey farm, and now a cheese tent. There's a mushroom stand and baked goods too. But I go for the vegetables at the lowest farm prices. Last spring I got 4 bundles of ramps for 5 bucks!


Here is my morning bounty. Everything you see here cost me twelve dollars. Carrot bundle -$2, large swiss chard bundle -$2, white onion bundle -$2, red onion bundle -$2, zucchini -$1.50/lb, parsely bunch -$1, tomato $2/lb, garlic -$1/each. We've all hit the speed bump at the farmers' markets because of prices. I don't know why its cheaper here other than it's Sunday and a long week before they come back. I like it when the farmer and I feel like we're getting the deal.

Caveat: tomatoes are still not very good. Looks like late July/August tomatoes this year. I wanted to make this salad, so I bought them anyway -but they look like they were picked too soon and force-ripened.

Jumping Beans


Around June 25th the green beans looked like this.


By July 4th they were beginning to leaf out. Bugs, slugs, or birds had their way with the cotyledons, so that some didn't make it. I planted new seeds to fill in. Now they are ready to flower. They grew fast, and are a bit leggy, fallen over. Last year they were more stout-legged, upright. I wonder if it has to do with the late planting? Either way, I'll get green beans, which to me is the essence of green food flavor. What I would like to imagine a bough of leaves tastes like to a giraffe.


The Aphid Trap 2



While the old broccoli continues to wane, the aphids appear to come and go. They are back now after what seemed a brief hiatus. Either way, they are only on these broccoli stalks, nothing else.
So I will continue to call this the aphid trap...except...soon its time to plant my fall broccoli!

Lycopersicon Lycodelirium


Green tomatoes are growing steadily now. I got my plants in late, maybe early June. In NYC, you can pot up your tomatoes in early May most seasons. This year I chose determinate varieties and those known for compact habits. Last year my tomatoes plants were enormo! This year's vines do seem to have a more open habit and less leaves.

Bella Rosa -the general slicing/salad tomato.

Milano Plum -my saucy tomato.


Black Russian -the interesting and exotic tomato not yet producing. It seems the more heirloom one gets, the more interesting the flower form.


Orang Pixie -the odd cherry tomato that barely made it out of its seedling stage. As a matter of fact, I'm not even sure this is the orange pix, because I didn't transplant it. I think because of its late-comer growth, its soldier-like uprightness, and its all-over neat habit which struck me as similar to the pixie habit as a seedling. Only fruiting will tell...


Sungold Cherry -the standard cherry.


Hopefully more disease resistant than last year's 'sugar sweetie.' But already getting yellow leaves down low.

These are all from John Scheeper's seeds. What I do not like about their seed packets is that they are not unique to the tomato, i.e. all have the same tomato drawing, same growth info. The only thing different is the tomato name and how many days. I'd like the packet to say if it is a determinate or indeterminate vine and disease resistance (VF, V) -for reference, that's really all. Jeepers Scheepers, can you add that much?!

Freakin Festival of Felines on Friel


Before I go where it is I am going, I must admit to saving two kittens. Oh, alright, it wasn't me but my wife. One was left on a porch in Maine and the other bounded out of the Maine woods, two years apart. One is black, the other white (ish). When Pinky (cause she was rather pink then) was young, she was scrawny, with sick eyes and ears. Life in the woods. Could've been owl meat.


When Pinky was young she liked to hide in the housplants. A rare moment of peace between the two.


So what's this I see through the tomatoes, fence, and vine? Is it that time again? I usually only see the survivors, 6 months old maybe. This one, this one is awfully young to be on its own.


Over the fence I go to see this little being. Scruffy for sure, one eye closed, giant ears. Its laying amongst the vines, hiding to its best ability. My watering in the garden seemed to chase it out from underneath the cold-frame -a rather perfect cat shelter. You see, I get lots of cats in the garden. It is my greatest pest. What is pestilent about cats? Mostly wet cat shit. But also cat spray and hair on the vegetable plants. I can smell the poop, but I cannot see it until its too late, on or in my shoe. Seriously, its worse than squirrels, insects, and tomato robbers combined.


We have a fierce crowd of cats in the neighborhood. Most are not owned, officially. Our own two cats have ragged dopelgangers out on the street. Cat fights are heard daily. Cats are lounging on car hoods like greasers. This one above was mewing like crazy, like it was looking for something, or some cat. I thought it may have been the kitten's mother. Just ahead of it was another, bigger gray cat.


Chicken bones, ham bones, fish bones, and other detritus are often left in front of my apartment (the unowned, you know) for the cats to eat. Cat food in cans and also dry food, sometimes tuna are left in front. People feed them like they might pigeons, but find them cuter, if not touchable. There is one neighbor, two houses down that has a slew of cats show up at his gate daily for their feast. The cat above is one of that crowd. The gray tabbies I call them. They follow him around when he walks his dog.


Oh, look who it is: the mewer, the bigger gray, and the kitten. Family reunited I suppose. They are lounging at my neighbors, inches from my side yard garden. I don't know if that kitten will make it, its rough out there.

The cats really like my garden. At different times there are different cats laying in the perfectly protected spots. Its like a halfway house for delinquents. Some months the garden belongs to white fright, other weeks ol' blackie no ears shows up (a real frankenstein), then there's splotches always hiding behind the New Dawn rose. The gray tabbies, a clan, a gang, they got class, but they're also on the dole.

Our cats, sometimes life is dull for them, but do they know how good they got it? So bourgeois.

The last three days I have been dealing with a cat puke fest. Its tough to figure out who's doing it, but I did yesterday. Three days of it is a bit much, especially for Zoe (black) who is known as puss, cause she always has one on. She's shedding like mad despite my brushing her, which they both love. Some of her puke has had a lot of hair in it. I suppose she wants me to put in the air conditioner. Which I have no plan to do so I hope she stops soon. Why do they always puke on the rug? Excuse me, I grew up with dogs and know little bits about cats. Oy.


Gathers Moss


I visited my friend and high school art teacher this past weekend. She lives in Stony Brook, LI. Many who came later to this enclave cut down or topped up their oaks to force a lawn. But in her neck of the woods, the canopy of oaks and understory of mountain laurel and introduced rhododendrons reign predominant. Her garden is a place of dappled light and deep greens. She has many hostas, ferns, and snakeroot. I introduced her to snakeroot's cousin, the purple perennial ageratum, two years ago to her delight. In recent years, but with this year standing out, her garden has become quite the home to moss.
Stepping stones float on a cushion.

The moss is luxurious visually and soft to the touch.


The old driveway.
What I really like is the light and shadow play on the mossy paths.






The Future of Farming (?)


I visited my sister and mother this weekend. I spotted this tomato and pepper plant on their balcony. My sister asked if she should get a bigger pot for them. Mind you, the pepper is in an 8 oz. cup! The tomato in a gallon or so container, probably the one it came in.

I promptly went out and bought a couple of cheapo plastic pots and some organic fertilizer from a big hardware chain. I was looking for those "earth" pots or reservoir-pots, but they did not have any. Too bad. Also, isn't time that vegetable tags have not only row-planting instructions, but pot or planter instructions?